21st century’s
Text by Gail Ramshaw new-old-new Easter F Photos by John Joseph Santoro
or tens of thousands of years, communities have gathered to celebrate religious rituals. We
can hear the ancient people saying, “Last year we danced all night long and then the rains came, and so this year we will dance once again.” Much religious ritual repeats what was done last year, or even last century, with people eating the same foods and singing the same songs. Tis is true for Christian worship.
We repeat the liturgy that the com- munity knows and loves. At Easter everyone gathers—even those who haven’t come since last year—to sing beloved hymns and enjoy the flowers. But Christian worship is also
always changing. Christ’s life, death and resurrection get our brains going: Is there a better way to cel- ebrate? At Easter we sing the ancient Jewish Psalm 118, but we do so in contemporary English to our tunes and with our youth playing their instruments. In Martin Luther’s day, the men
stood on one side of the nave, and the women and children stood on the other side. Tose churches had no chairs or pews. (Te worship scene in the 2003 movie Luther is totally inaccurate.) But two centu- ries ago, many Christians decided to sit together as families. As in the ancient church, the baptized gather for worship, but now we can sit
Author bio: Ramshaw studies and crafts liturgical language from her home outside of Washington, D.C. She is a member of Resurrection Lutheran Church in Arlington, Va.
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www.thelutheran.org
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